In a satellite communications system, a communications satellite may provide service for a number of satellite terminals over a certain area. Signals transmitted between the satellite and each of the satellite terminals may have characteristics that depend on a location for each respective satellite terminal. For example, transmissions to or from satellite terminals located farther from the communications satellite may have lower signal strength and/or lower signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) than transmissions to or from satellite terminals located closer to the communications satellite. In another example, transmissions to or from a satellite terminal in an urban environment may have lower signal strength and/or lower SNR than transmissions to or from a satellite terminal in a rural environment, because the urban environment may have more scattering of signals or more sources of noise than the rural environment.
During an installation of a satellite terminal, a signal strength and/or SNR threshold may be measured to determine whether there has been a successful installation. If the installation is determined to be unsuccessful, adjustments may be made, such as adjusting an alignment of a satellite terminal antenna, or adjusting transmission power of a transmitting device. However, certain adjustments may be impractical, or result in an inefficient use of available radio frequency (RF) spectrum resources.